Charles M. Case was born on February 5, 1845, in Akron, New York to William and Matilda Case. His father was a merchant who owned $20,000 of real estate and $15,000 of personal property by 1860. The family moved to Waukegan, Illinois, around 1847, and Case grew up and attended school there.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on June 4, 1862, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Company C of the 69^th Illinois Infantry ten days later. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The regiment spent the next three months as camp guards at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois. He was promoted to 2^nd lieutenant on August 18, 1862, and he mustered out on September 27, 1862. On March 9, 1864, Case received a commission as a captain in Company K of the 64^th Illinois Infantry. The regiment took part in the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Carolinas campaign. He mustered out on July 11, 1865.

 

Case returned to his parents’ household in Waukegan after the war, and by 1870, he was working as a clerk. He married Isabella C. Cory on September 27, 1871, and they had at least two children: Susan, born around 1874; and Bella, born around 1878. He eventually moved to Chicago and earned a living as a bookkeeper. His wife died on February 5, 1884. In March 1897, Case was admitted to a National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time, he was suffering from rheumatism and a “weak heart.” He died there of pneumonia on July 22, 1905.

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